Charity, charity, charity. So many campaigns, so many events, all done in the name of charity. I’ve seen concerts, festivals, and donation drives, all done to raise money for charity. The basic ideas?

Have fun while doing charity

Sure, charity is about sharing, but being humans, it’s hard for people to continue ‘having fun for charity’ when they realize there’s nothing solid to be gained when they give something out. I’ve also noticed that these events raise a huge amount cash in one shot, but I seldom see the same body conduct such events on a steady and frequent basis.

What happens when that big bulk of cash is spent? Run another event? And expect to collect the same amount of money? I highly doubt this. Running an event to raise money aloone already costs a huge amount of cash, even a company as big as McDonalds don’t run charity events that often. The final scene? The big amount of money will soon be spent, and they will have a hard time trying to raise funds without the platform of a charity event.

So, how do we solve this problem? A favourable condition these charity bodies would want to be in, is to be constantly supplied with a steady flow of cash. Though not necessarily as big as ones you collect in a big event, big sufficient to handle monthly needs and still keep some for savings.

This is where the story begins.

The Xim Phou Moon Society Malaysia has devised a clever strategy that allows them to bring in steady amounts of cash every month. Perhaps you’ve never heard of this society because it doesn’t really run big charity events, and in fact, it stays low profile.

“The where the hell does it get this steady flow of cash you speak of?”

Well, they may be a charity body, but they’re are also business-minded. Instead of simply offering entertainment or a warm feeling in your heart, they offer you a solid gain, and for a good price, too.

They sell second-hand reading materials. Books, novels, magazines and comics ranging from Charles Dickens and Enid Blyton to Readers’ Digest and Marvel. All the books sold are second hand, but the knowledge and literature and entertainment alue remains timeless. And since they’re second-hand, they sell at prices about 30-50% than what you would pay for a new copy.

They run business by setting up booths and stalls at medium-class shopping complexes nationwide.

The best part? Once you’re done with a particular copy, you are welcomed to re-donate the books back to the society for them to re-sell it. You know what, last time I went to their booths, I saw their donation bin, and I saw tens of bags of books returned by satisfied readers.

People are glad to donate knowledge.

So, they get donated books, sell them, receive them back and sell them to someone else. It has been their business strategy for over 5 years, and they’re doing very well, I must say. I myself have been buying from them, and returning as well [save for my precious collection of Readers' Digest]. My mother is especially fond of buying women’s magazines and National Geographic and she regularly buys new ones to replace the ones she returned.

Charity gains money, you gain knowledge. Now THAT is a win-win charity endeavour.